OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
Will Smith’s public image has fallen into the toilet as the ultimate result of his infamous on-stage assault on Chris Rock at the Oscars over a harmless joke.
Hollywood and the entertainment industry use data from “Q Scores” to determine an actor or public figure’s influence and appeal. Those with higher Q Scores often receive far more job offers, higher salaries, and opportunities.
For Smith, his numbers have declined in a historic fashion. Executive vice president of Q Scores, Henry Schafer, says Smith has experienced “a very significant and precipitous decline” as his positive Q Score plummeted from 39 in January to a staggering 24 in July.
A positive Q Score of 24 means that 24% of the 1,800 Americans view Smith as one of their favorite personalities.
Moreover, Smith’s negative Q Score has more than doubled to 26 from less than 10. This is much worse than the average negative Q Score of roughly 16 or 17, Schafer explains.
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He was once ranked in the top five or 10 of America’s most positively rated actors, alongside popular actors like Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. Not anymore.
More on this story via NY Post:
Participants didn’t keep Jada Pinkett Smith’s name — to borrow a phrase from her husband — out of their “f–king mouths,” either. His 50-year-old wife’s positive score was already low at 13, reported Variety, and it fell to 6 after her husband confronted Rock for comparing her bald head to “G.I. Jane,” a character played by Demi Moore in the 1997 war flick.
Meanwhile, Pinkett Smith’s negative score jumped from 29 to 44.
Rock’s scores, though, did not change after the incident: His positive number stayed at 20, while his negative score remained at 14.
However, the 57-year-old comic’s ranking on a separate Q Scores scale that gauges a celebrity’s level of public awareness jumped from 66 to 84.
Smith publicly apologized to Rock in a tearful YouTube video in July, but claimed that he was told the “Everybody Hates Chris” star is “not ready to talk” with Smith one-on-one.
Smith’s daughter, Willow, 21, recently defended her dad’s violent response in an interview with Billboard.
“I see my whole family as being human, and I love and accept them for all their humanness,” the “Maybe It’s My Fault” singer said.
“Because of the position that we’re in, our humanness sometimes isn’t accepted, and we’re expected to act in a way that isn’t conducive to a healthy human life and isn’t conducive to being honest,” she added.
